Caroline Jordan is a 4th Year student studying Psychology. She is attending the UVA Exchange: Waseda University program this semester.

Taken in Harajuku, this photo shows the famous Takeshita Street, famed for its relevance to youth culture. The picture shows how crowded this popular shopping and fashion area gets, with both tourists and locals examining the youthful fashion culture in stores.

Taken at the Asakusa Shrine, this photo shows the long road of shops and vendors leading to the temple. Food, charms, and souvenirs are sold here, before entering the Shinto shrine.

This photo is of myself in the Tokyo Metropolitan Building observation area. For such a large and populous city, the view is serene from above it all.

Two Waseda University students show the exchange students how to observe the proper rituals at the Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine in Kawagoe.

I took this photo in Kawagoe, a traditional town. Around the town, there were many of these “love fortunes” pictured here. Fortunes are common in the shrines and temples here, but this is the only city where I have seen so many love fortunes placed around!

Taken near Palette Town in Odaiba, this photo shows buildings making up the famous skyline. I took it to show the unique architecture of even the standard office buildings in Tokyo.

Jamir studied abroad this past summer in Costa Rica for six weeks. This is his second journal on the blog. Check it out!

Jamir Nahuel Kai

15 May 2016

Study abroad reﬂection #1

It’s hard to accept reality. A strange articulation, I know, but I can’t express the bulkof my feelings right now in any other way. I’m experiencing a surreal blend of comfort,exhilaration, and unease. Primarily, I’m overwhelmed by the gorgeous climate this evening. Fresquito is how my host-sister’s boyfriend described it. I would agree, cool and fresh feeling.

Secondarily, I miss my ﬁancé already. We haven’t spent more than a day apart for the last three years, and the plane ride to Costa Rica was enough to make me feel the distance between us that is to last for the next six weeks. Once I process the tropical breeze alongside the pangs of missing my beloved, I begin to tear up.

I can’t believe I’m ﬁnally here! I’ve been dreaming about this very place since ninth grade. That’s six long years of fantasizing about walking amongst the mountains and the bugs (so many bugs) and seeing beautiful, diverse, Spanish-speaking people all around me. And now I’m here. Los ticos do indeed, as all the posts I have read claimed, greet kindly all passersby. And greetings are speciﬁc to the time of day.

My host-sister is a ray of sunshine, but busy. To make sure I got to see the beauty of the town and surrounding towns, she and her boyfriend took me for a sunset drive around the highs and low of Carrillos Alto and Carrillos Bajo. We took an even further trip out to a bigger town called Grecia and I tried my ﬁrst authentic Costa Rican dish! I didn’t like it all that much. But that’s okay! Dinner by my already loving and caring host-mother, Alicia, was fabulous and ﬁlling. First day of school is tomorrow. Bright and early.

Jamir studied abroad this past summer in Costa Rica for six weeks. Check out his journal before he left on his trip.

Jamir Nahuel Kai

12 May 2016

Pre departure reflection

My passport has finally arrived! My new duffel bag has finally arrived! I just picked up a new pair of sunglasses and my two ounce travel bottles are filled with sunscreen, body wash, and bug spray. I’ve spent hours online researching various aspects of Costa Rican culture and I’ve had a long conversation with my host parents’ daughter about my stay in their home. It is now officially feeling quite real that I will soon be leaving for Costa Rica and living in Alajuela for an entire six weeks. But even though everything feels prepared, the butterflies in my stomach are telling me otherwise….

What if I don’t like the food? What if my host family aren’t okay with gay people? Will I be able to stay in contact with my mom without an international phone plan? And what am I going to do without being able to sleep next to my fiancée and our two dogs every night for a month and a half??? The truth of the matter is I’m equally as worried as I am excited for this imminent trip.

However, as a teacher candidate in my fourth (out of five) year at the University of Virginia, I recognize the value and importance of studying abroad. I can’t wait to start experiencing the new culture, meeting new people, and improving my Spanish. I’ll be doing a semester-long teaching internship at Monticello High School in the fall and taking standardized assessments in July, so I want my fluency to be as perfect as possible before returning home to the states. I also can’t wait to be capturing moments, sharing them with my loved ones, and transmitting my experiences in various forms. Above all, I’m very thankful for this opportunity as I’ve never been out of the country and I’m the only person in my entire extended family to attend college, let alone spend a month abroad to study a foreign language. I shall return stronger, more knowledgeable, and with un montón de memorias that I’ll utilize and cherish forever!!